The Life Of A Teenager In Snohomish County Is Worth Just One Year Behind BarsApril 14, 2018

By Rex D. CainChronicle Opinion

(EVERETT, WA.) – If your child, a teenager had been kicked to death in a fight by an opponent, another teen who could have walked away at any time, then what value do you suppose the state of Washington would place on your son's life?

A family found the answer to that question in a Snohomish County courtroom this week. It's just one year behind bars. That’s it.

And the victim in the case, 16-year old Robbie Myrick Jr. is dead forever. His family has lost him forever as have his friends. They will never see Robbie grow up, get married, have children that then produce grandchildren for the parents who mourn his loss, or be able to spend Christmas with him and other holidays.

It is the kind of heartbreak no family will truly understand until it happens to their son or daughter.

And so, a 15-year old boy (now 16) – the one who beat Robbie to death in a fight over a girl back in August of last year at a place called Spooky Woods near Pinewood Elementary School in Marysville – pleaded guilty to second degree manslaughter and accepted this week the maximum sentence under state law for a teen in this situation: 30 days in the slam.

Yes. Just 30 days: not one year, not five years. So how did the teen who murdered Robbie get more than 30 days? The judge in the case gave him the one year citing aggravating circumstances.

Justice for the family? For society? You be the judge. What message does that sentence send to other teens who might kill someone in a fight? Sound like a huge deterrent to you when the killer would know he could be back on the streets partying after 30 days or one year?

Who is the winner in this deal and who are the losers?

KOMO-TV reported that Robbie’s family has been “livid ever since, saying the punishment (30 days by law) doesn’t fit the crime.”

Do you think you might be livid if that was your son in a grave and the other boy walking free in a year? Or 30 days?

Oh. And about the horrific crime that claimed Robbie’s life. The cops, after investigating, determined that the killer punched Robbie Myrick, which knocked him to the ground and after he was on the ground the killer repeatedly kicked him in the head even when it became apparent Robbie was not going to be getting up to harm anyone.

Repeated kicks to the head to an unresponsive boy on the ground. What does that tell you about the killer?

The onlookers to the fight that day? Nobody called 911 to get medical help for Robbie. They, and the killer just left him there to die. Eventually Robbie was taken to a hospital where he died 10 days later due to severe brain injuries.

The kid who killed Robbie – the one who kicked him in the head over and over as Robbie lay on the ground unable to do a thing – read a statement in court saying he wanted Robbie’s family to know “that I regret my actions daily, it was never my intention to take his life.”

Really? Well. Just look at the facts in the case and you decide what the killer's intention was.

Do you really think he never intended to kill anyone or is that just typical at-sentencing bullshit that killers read in court, time after time to get a more lenient sentence?

"Gosh judge, I never really intended to kill the kid. I was just having so much fun kicking him the head over and over after he was on the ground unconscious that I got, ya know, carried away. Hey, could have happened to anyone."

Sure. And pigs fly to the moon every day. More about this pathetic state of affairs here.

One more thing. To Robbie’s family: we are so very, very sorry the justice system failed you as it does so many families.

It is long past due for the state of Washington to update the sentencing guidelines for these horrific crimes. Whoever put 30-days as a sentence into law for this type of brutal murder was either drunk, stoned, stupid or all of the above.